Page 83 of Keep Me Close

His eyes search mine, almost as if he’s trying to pick through my private thoughts.

“You were exactly what I needed in the moment,” I admit.

A muscle jumps in his jaw. “Are you sure?” His fingers brush over my cheek.

“I am.”

He leans in slowly until his lips meet mine in a kiss that feels nothing like the ones we’ve shared. It’s not desperate or heated from the first second. This one is slower, deeper, and filled with intention as I melt into it.

My hand slides up his chest and over his shoulder, my fingers curling into the hard muscle of his back as I pull him closer. He shifts against me, his arm wrapping around me, his body fitting to mine. Heat builds gradually between us as his hand moves along my side, up my spine, then down again in a slow glide that leaves every inch of me clamoring for more. I press closer, wanting to feel the hard lines of his sculpted body. The desire pumping through me is so much more than physical. For the first time, it feels like I’m actually seeing the man buried beneath all the hype. Knox is surprising me in ways I could never have expected.

A breath catches in my throat as my palm slides over the firm planes of his stomach before sinking lower. He catches my wrist loosely in his grip. It’s just enough to stop me.

I blink up at him, my breathing uneven. His forehead drops to mine, and he closes his eyes, as if trying to gather himself before opening them again.

“If we do this,” he says quietly, voice rough, “it changes everything.”

The comment hangs in the air between us. A stark warning that if we cross this line, there’s no going back to what we’ve always been.

“I know.”

His thumb strokes my cheek, his expression torn as he continues to hold himself back. That might be what gets to me the most. Not the fact that he wants me, but that he’s doing his damnedest not to.

I scoot closer before resting my head against his chest. For a long moment, neither of us speaks. His heartbeat is a steady thump beneath my cheek as his hand drifts along my back.

My eyelids fall before I even realize it.

Safe.

That’s the only word that flits through my brain. I’m safe enough to fall asleep without worrying about what comes next.

And that has everything to do with the man holding me.

30

Knox

Practice just ended and the locker room is loud in a way that usually settles me. Sticks clatter into bins. Music blasts from someone’s speaker. Half the guys are talking over each other while stripping off their gear before hurling tape, gloves, and shoulder pads into their stalls.

Normally, this part of the day feels easy.

Today… not so much.

As soon as I return from the shower, River tosses his phone onto the bench in front of me.

“Damn, McNichols,” he says. “You getting domesticated on us?”

I don’t bother looking up. “Not sure what you’re talking about.”

Oliver leans over from the next stall with a wide grin. “Oh, you know exactly what he’s talking about, lover boy.”

With a tap of the screen, he turns it toward me.

I catch the Railers Rumors logo from the corner of my eye. It’s a photo of Chey and me at the zoo. She’s wrapped in my arms as my mouth slants over hers.

My jaw tightens before I can stop it. When I kissed her yesterday, it had nothing to do with the press. In that moment, I forgot all about the fake dating arrangement. I wanted to feel the firm pressure of her mouth beneath mine, so that’s exactly what I did.

Simple as that.